A Luxembourg official has spoken out against a recent investigation into Apple's tax avoidance strategies. In a letter to the editor of the New York Times, an executive director at the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office defended Apple and the country, saying they are applying EU tax law correctly.
The Travis County Commissioners Court has voted in favor of a deal to bring a second Apple campus to Austin, Texas, the Austin-American Statesman reports. In the end commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of the plan, which was recently amended to include stricter hiring requirements. The lone dissenter was Precinct 2 Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt, who argued the deal should have stronger requirements to hire people from the county; she was also upset that requirements for the poor were dropped. Judge Sam Biscoe said he was willing to take Apple's word that it would hire the poor despite no contractual obligations.
Travis County commissioners could potentially approve an altered handout deal to Apple later today, according to the Austin-American Statesman. Apple is hoping to build a second campus in Austin, Texas worth $304 million, and is expected to bring 3,665 more jobs to the city over the course of the next 10 years. The county may contribute $6.4 million out of a total $36 million in incentives, but last week skepticism about the deal postponed a vote on the matter.
Chinese government officials are currently siding with Proview in the company's iPad trademark dispute with Apple, reports suggest. The Associated Press quotes Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, as saying that the government considers Proview Shenzhen to be the rightful owner of the trademark. The Wall Street Journal meanwhile cites Fu Shuangjian -- the deputy director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce -- as having a slightly different perspective.
As a part of his visit to Beijing on Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook also met with Guo Jinlong, the mayor of Beijing, a local newspaper reports. The exact details of the encounter are unknown, but it's suggested he talked about expanding markets, and cooperating more closely with Beijing in the future. Yesterday Apple would only say that Cook was in the country to talk with "Chinese officials" about expanding operations in the region; he was nevertheless spotted at the Xidan Joy City Apple Store in Beijing.
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Chinese government officials on Monday, company spokeswoman Carolyn Wu tells MarketWatch. The executive was reportedly there to discuss expanding Chinese operations, but Wu has refused to elaborate. Cook "had great meetings with Chinese officials today," according to Wu. "China is very important to us and we look forward to even greater investment and growth here."
The US Congress' House Energy & Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman and chairman Fred Upton have issued a letter to 33 iOS developers, asking them about privacy policies when it comes to apps, reports say. A number of prominent developers are included in the list, such as Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud, Turntable.fm, Path, and Tweetbot creator Tapbots. The letter actually claims that 34 developers have been contacted, but only 33 are mentioned.
An Apple official today answered questions in front of Austin City Council in an attempt to secure funding for its expanded presence in the city. The Council is offering to pay $8.6 million in incentives over 10 years if Apple meets job and investment targets. Apple may also receive $21 million from the state-level Texas Enterprise Fund, and still more cash from Travis County, although county officials are believed to be waiting until after a City Council vote to say what it might contribute.
The US Commerce Department has confirmed that Steve Jobs did in fact serve on the President's Export Council during the George Bush Sr. administration, according to the Associated Press. This week the FBI published a 191-page file on Jobs from 1991, dealing mainly with a background investigation for an appointment to the Council. The AP remarks that Export Council members are unpaid, and meet a minimum of twice a year.
Steve Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, is on the official guest list for tonight's State of the Union address by US President Barack Obama, according to the White House. She will watch the speech from First Lady Michelle Obama's box in the House of Representatives. Laurene is likely to be mentioned by the President in light of Steve's death on October 5th, but the invitation may also reflect an expected educational agenda in the speech.
A political row has surfaced over plans to build a larger Lincoln Road Apple Store in Miami Beach, Florida, notes the Miami Herald. Earlier in the year Apple proposed demolishing a structure at 1001 Lincoln Road, about a thousand feet from the current store, in order to create a bigger outlet (seen in images) featuring a predominantly glass design with a tall stone sidewall. Heritage organizations protested, given that the target building dates back to 1926. Apple withdrew its proposal, but business leaders are said to be worried that Apple might simply move to a different city and take heavy shopping traffic with it.
Members of the Occupy protest movement should target companies like Apple, rather than protest at places like the docks in Oakland, California, says former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown. On Sunday the San Francisco Chronicle published an editorial by Brown, in which he accused the Occupy movement of hurting the 99 percent in the form of dock workers and truck drivers. "If the Occupy people really want to make a point about the 1 percent, then lay off Oakland and go for the real money down in Silicon Valley," the column reads.
Minnesota Senator Al Franken has sent letters to several more companies involved in the Carrier IQ scandal, reports say. Franken is in charge of a Senate privacy panel, and has issued new requests to AT&T, HTC, Samsung, and Sprint, in addition to one sent earlier to Carrier IQ itself. The new parties are being asked to explain how they're using the Carrier IQ technology, and what data they're gathering through it.
The Syrian government has imposed a ban on iPhone use in the country, according to Customs Department documents reportedly obtained by local activists. "The authorities warn anyone against using the iphone in Syria," the statement reads. The move is believed to be a small additional step by the regime of Bashar al-Assad to prevent news of violence against protesters being made public. Footage from cellphones has often been one of the only means by which the outside world has learned of the crackdowns, since most foreign journalists are currently banned. Over 4,000 people have been murdered in the country since March.
Apple is today training its retail managers on the topic of unionization by workers, an internal document received by CNET is said to indicate. The course is described by Apple as mandatory for all new store managers, and "intended to provide managers with a practical understanding of how unions affect the workplace, how and why employees organize, and the legal do's and don'ts of dealing with unions." The class is also "required biannually for all managers," according to one line.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was extremely critical of Fox News, and Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of the network's parent company News Corp., Reuters notes. The information comes from the Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, which shipped on Monday. In June 2010 Jobs agreed to speak at News Corp.'s annual management retreat, breaking a personal policy against such speaking engagements. Why he agreed is unclear, although Apple and News Corp. would later launch The Daily for the iPad.
More details from Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography -- due on the 24th -- are making their way to the media. Jobs almost, for instance, reportedly missed meeting President Barack Obama in the fall of 2010, as he insisted that Obama personally ask him for a meeting, even after Jobs' wife said that Obama "was really psyched to meet with you;" in all Jobs is said to have held out for five days, but finally conceded and met the President at the Westin San Francisco Airport.
US President Barack Obama received early access to the iPad, an ABC interview reveals. Obama is well known for carrying an iPad around with him, but the circumstances around how he got it have usually gone unmentioned. "[Former Apple CEO] Steve Jobs actually gave it to me, a little bit early. Yeah, it was cool. I got it directly from him," he admits in the interview.
Brazil's national development bank, BNDES, could withdraw support for Foxconn's efforts to start iPad production in the country, reports say. Contrary to earlier reports Foxconn has yet to actually begin production in Brazil, although the country's president, Dilma Rousseff, has previously suggested that tablets could roll off the assembly line by the end of the year. Talks are stalling, a local publication claims.
FaceTime and iOS as a whole should be compliant with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) security rules, an Apple spokesperson suggests. The standard is important in the US healthcare industry as in order for devices to qualify for government funding, they must ensure that only authorized people will be able to access Electronic Protected Health Information, or EPHI. Encryption is effectively mandatory.
Brazil's minister of science and technology, Aloizio Mercadante, has announced that a new Foxconn factory in Jundiaí is complete and already producing iPads, reports note. The information was revealed at a hearing of the country's Commission of Economic Affairs. Although production is currently in progress, Brazilian-made iPads are not expected to ship until December.
Apple's new Cupertino campus may not have a completely smooth path towards approval, the results of a local public consultation suggest. The meeting was hosted by Cupertino mayor Gilbert Wong, who himself claims that the new complex is "definitely not a done deal," since it has to undergo a "public process." Many people at the meeting also expressed worries connected to the scale of Apple's ambitions.
The president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, Jim Hoffa, recently singled out Apple as an example of American companies abusing outsourcing, reports note. Speaking in a CNN interview, Hoffa asked President Barack Obama to "challenge the patriotism" of US companies in a speech on jobs, also suggesting a tax plan that might get corporations to "start spending some of that money here in America and put Americans back to work."
The Indiana state legislature is considering whether or not to adopt iPads for use during sessions, writes the Associated Press. The matter is currently in front of a review committee. In all the legislature would need at least 150 tablets, split between 100 for representatives and 50 for senators.
Apple is hoping to open a new London retail store in the city's financial district, but may be stopped by laws meant to guarantee other property owners access to sunlight, Reuters reports. A source tells the news agency that a US developer, Hines, is looking to buy real estate at 100 Cheapside and build a 10-storey development with 87,000 square feet for offices and 13,000 square feet for retail. Apple is interested in occupying the retail space, the source says.
Apple has so far spent at least $1.3 million on lobbying the US government this year, says First Street Research. The firm's data covers the first two quarters of the year, during which Apple spent $560,000 and $790,000, respectively. The money can be further subdivided between four major contracted lobbying firms: Capitol Tax Partners, Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, Franklin Square Group, and Jefferson Consulting Group.
The mayor of Cupertino, Gilbert Wong, has issued a public statement acknowledging that the city council is backing Apple's new headquarters project, sometimes dubbed the Mothership. "There is no chance we are saying no," according to Wong. The city has in fact held a press conference to disclose its position, and started up a dedicated news page for the building.
Apple exploited government mistakes to increase the company's profits, an internal probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission notes. Several years ago, when it was chaired by President George W. Bush appointee Christopher Cox, the SEC was looking to escalate its integration of high technology. An Apple salesman persuaded the SEC to choose the company's systems, and by 2008 Apple is said to have got unchecked authorization to make large numbers of purchases, which it took advantage of. Federal regulations require that such purchases be reviewed and approved.
Apple and Google today made a repeat appearance in front of the US Senate, newly joined by Facebook, for a subcommittee on mobile privacy. The corporations largely stuck to earlier positions in defense of their actions. "Apple does not track users' locations -- Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so," said Apple's VP of government affairs, Catherine Novelli. Criticisms of the company have circled around a cache of Wi-Fi and celltower locations, which until an iOS patch was released extended almost a year back.
As planned, executives from Apple and Google appeared in front of a US Senate judiciary subcommittee on mobile privacy on Tuesday. Speaking on behalf of Apple was the company's VP of software technology, Guy L. "Bud" Tribble, who repeated some of the company's previous positions on mobile privacy. "Apple is strongly committed to giving our customers clear and transparent notice, choice and control over their information, and we believe our products do so in a simple and elegant way," said Tribble.
US Senator Al Franken has named the Apple and Google witnesses who will be appearing at a judiciary subcommittee on mobile privacy. Speaking on behalf of Apple will be Guy L. "Bud" Tribble, a VP of software technology. Google's representative will be Alan Davidson, a director of public policy for the Americas. The subcommittee will convene at 10AM on May 10th, according to Sen. Franken's office.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has reiterated some of the company's official positions on iOS tracking in a new interview. "We haven’t been tracking anyone," Jobs tells All Things Digital. "The files they [researchers] found on these phones, as we explained, it turned out were basically files we have built through anonymous, crowdsourced information that we collect from the tens of millions of iPhones out there."
The French and Italian governments have become involved in examining the location history file found in iOS 4, reports say. The Italian Data Protection Authority has opened a formal investigation into the matter, although Reuters notes that the probe is an expansion of one into how mobile apps deal with personal data. France's CNIL is reportedly verifying the security issue, and says it will send Apple France a letter asking for an explanation next week.
The German government has joined groups requesting an explanation for an unprotected location history file in iOS 4, says Reuters. The country's consumer protection ministry is asking Apple to answer "a string of open questions," namely "where, for how long, and for what purpose the data is saved, who has access to it, and how it is protecting against unauthorized access." An Apple Germany spokesman has so far refused to comment.
The unprotected location history file in iOS 4 has drawn attention from Minnesota senator Al Franken, says CNN. Franken has reportedly sent a two-page letter (PDF) to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, arguing that the file represents a potential security threat. "Anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of the user's home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken over the past months or even a year," part of the letter reads.
Apple's Brazilian plans are likely linked to an expansion by manufacturing partner Foxconn, a Reuters report suggests. Currently situated in Taiwan and China, Foxconn is "proposing a partnership" with Brazil worth $12 billion over the course of five to six years, according to the country's president, Dilma Rousseff. "We've been talking to them [Foxconn] for three months," adds science and technology minister Aloizio Mercadente.
Ian Watmore -- permanent secretary of the UK's Cabinet Office, and in charge of a government efficiency drive -- is calling for the UK government to end its dependence on Microsoft products, according to the BBC. Microsoft products are currently used by about 90 percent of civil servants in the UK. The government is committed to using more open-source software to save money, says Watmore, although this is being balanced with attention to the threat of hacking.
Reimbursements from the US government may be playing a significant role in fostering iPad adoption by doctors, CNBC suggests. The government is operating a program called Meaningful Use, which allows doctors and hospitals to claim Medicare and Medicaid expenses when buying specific technology. The aim of the initiative is to increase migration to electronic records, theoretically reducing healthcare costs while improving the quality of service.
Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown refused to knight Steve Jobs in 2009 because the Apple CEO turned down an invitation to speak at a Labour Party conference, a former senior MP in the party claims. The MP, who exited British parliament after the last election, put Jobs forward as a potential knight for services to technology. "Apple has been the only major global company to create stunning consumer products because it has always taken design as the key component of everything it has produced. No other CEO has consistently shown such a commitment," the person argues.
Several major US technology executives have been officially photographed with President Obama at a dinner meeting on Thursday night. As expected, three people on the guest list included Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Google's Eric Schmidt, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Jobs and Zuckerberg were notably given the most prominent positions during the dinner, seated directly to the left and right of the President.
A variety of technology corporations are among those pressuring the US government to give them a preferential tax break, sources tell Fortune. Apple, Cisco, Pfizer and Duke Energy are specifically named as lobbying politicians for a tax "holiday" in regards to repatriated cash. Whereas the companies would normally be obligated to pay 35 percent, their goal is allegedly to pay just 5 percent.
Several major tech CEOs will be meeting with President Obama at a San Francisco event this evening, sources tell ABC News. Amongst the business heads attending the event will allegedly be Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Eric Schmidt, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. A White House official explains that the assembly will talk about "promoting American innovation," as well as the Obama administration's interests in funding education, clean energy, and research and development.
Apple has hired a DC lobbying outfit to exert influence on the federal government, according to Politico. Official disclosures are said to reveal that the firm of Fierce, Isakowitz and Blalock started working for Apple on February 1st. What issues Apple may want to push politicians on has not been revealed beyond a broad category of "innovation."
As anticipated, two suspects have been charged in the matter of iPad customer data stolen from AT&T, according to a spokesperson for Paul Fishman, the US attorney for New Jersey. Bloomberg reports that the first suspect is Daniel Spitler, a 26-year-old from San Francisco. The other is Andrew Auernheimer, a 25-year-old from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Japanese government is moving forward on an anticipated demand for iPhone censorship software, says the Wall Street Journal. On Monday, a panel announced that the government is asking both Apple Japan and the country's exclusive iPhone carrier, Softbank, to install filtering controls to block less than "wholesome" websites for people under 18. Included in this category are social networking sites which lack their own internal monitoring systems.
The Japanese government is criticizing Apple Japan and cellular carrier Softbank for a lack of content filtering on the iPhone, reports say. Specifically, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is expected to ask for region-tailored filtering software to be installed as soon as possible. Local stores are obligated to install censorship tools on phones sold to minors.
An Apple spokesperson has provided a brief explanation of why an unofficial Wikileaks app was pulled from the App Store. "We removed WikiLeaks because it violated developer guidelines," the representative says. "An app must comply with all local laws. It may not put an individual or target group in harms way."
Customs officials in Shenzhen, China have arrested a group of 14 housewives caught smuggling iPads into the mainland from Hong Kong, according to local paper Guangzhou Daily. Together the women were reportedly carrying 88 iPads, along with 340 cellphones. One of the women is said to have had 65 phones strapped to her waist, and over 20 more stashed in a handbag.
A senior iPhone director at Apple, Farrel Farhoudi, has been summoned to appear in front of the South Korean parliament on October 21st, says Bloomberg. Farhoudi will be asked to explain the company's repair and replacement policies, which have engendered a number of complaints from Korean customers. When people go to get iPhones repaired, the complaints allege, Apple is primarily choosing to hand out refurbished phones, rather than grant refunds, new phones or actual repairs. A local iPhone warranty allows a choice of any of the four options if a fault happens within 14 days of purchase.
Apple paid a couple $1.7 million in order to secure just one more acre of land for its North Carolina data center, according to Bloomberg. Donnie and Kathy Fulbright originally paid $6,000 for the acre, which they occupied for more than 30 years. It took several offers from Apple before the Fulbrights could be persuaded to leave. "They told us to put a price on it and we did," says Kathy. The couple ultimately used the money to buy a 49-acre plot, a new house and a jacuzzi.
